Angela's First Home03:07

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DIY Upholstered Headboard in Green and White Master Bedroom

When couples combine furniture, sometimes major pieces, like a bed, need to be freshened up. Atlantan Amanda Macy Hall, who blogs about home decor and DIY projects, transformed a queen cherry sleigh bed that belonged to her husband, Josh, with upholstery. She used a cheap drop cloth and a roll of brass decorative nails. “I love the look of the drop-cloth, a beautiful natural color with subtle texture, and the nailheads bring the added style that helps to tie it to the rest of our room.”

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Farmhouse Kitchen with Mason Jar Pendants Over Island

Let your love for vintage jars shine. Light fixtures made from Mason jars fit with a vintage, rustic or farmhouse kitchen design. These single pendants made of upcycled jars cost about $125 each, says Atlanta designer Jenn Ryan, owner of Jenn Ryan Designs and Reclaimed Lighting. Chandeliers made with a trio of Mason jars can also be found for less than $200 through online artisan marketplaces.

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After: Zen Master Bedroom Makeover

When you’re trying to create a restful bedroom space, go with a neutral base. Atlanta designer Ann Wisniewski of AJW Designs suggests using accessories to add color. The blues and greens in this room’s bedding, lamps and houseplants give the Dwell with Dignity makeover a zen vibe. The bedside tables were originally in the room, but DIY blogger Dena Stormer painted them and replaced the hardware to create an all-new look.

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Before: Lackluster Kid's Room

Give kids rooms they can grow with. Egypt Sherrod worked with AmericasMart to makeover the children’s rooms in this Dwell with Dignity project. She says her main goal was to create a comfortable space for the kids that reflected their personalities that they wouldn’t outgrow too quickly.

Before: Traditional Bedroom

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Before: Dated Master Bedroom

Before the Dwell with Dignity makeover, this room was dull and unpolished, but designer Steve McKenzie, owner of of Steve McKenzie’s in Atlanta, brought in fresh new touches to completely change the feel of the space.

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Chic White Modern Kitchen with an Island

Designer Jessica Murphy of Her Cave Atlanta says that to get a designer look on a budget, she loves the prices and variety of lighting fixtures offered at home improvement stores. “They literally have a thousand choices online. You can order something and if you don’t like it, you can take it back in the store, so that’s a really great feature for lighting and mirrors,” she says. These orb lights from Home Decorators Collection were under $50.

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Before: Boys Room with Bunk Beds

Because of limited space, rearranging wasn’t really possible when GordonDunning redesigned this room as part of a Dwell with Dignity install. With the help of DIY blogger Dena Stormer they revamped the room’s color palette with a coat of bright red paint, reusing much of the existing furniture, to give the room a fresh new look.

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Rustic Sliding Barn Door Opens to Bathroom

Save space and add a rustic element with a sliding door. McNeal Walker Interiors repurposed a discarded door they found on the side of the road and turned it into the sliding barn door leading into this en suite bathroom in Atlanta. The door gives the chamber a rustic redo and provides privacy.

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Winter Decor with Succulents, Pinecones and Sweaters

With their thick, fleshy leaves, succulents give a more modern edge to decorating for winter. Karin Jeffcoat of Cote Designs upcycled old cable-knit sweaters to make cute, versatile container covers that balance that modern feel with a cozy warmth needed to get through a long winter indoors. This foursome could be a coffee table vignette, or you could make more to run down a dining table, interspersed with pinecones and dried pomegranates.

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About the Show

My First Place
follows a set of first-time buyers and their realtor along the stress-filled, yet exciting, search for the perfect home. Get the latest info on financing in a down market, plus proven know-how straight from the real estate professionals.

Episodes

Frankie, a picky, perfectionist nurse at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, has his mind set on finding a rowhouse with all the bells and whistles under 200-thousand dollars. He always gets what he wants, so why should this be any different? Will Frankie's diva attitude get in the way of his house hunt? Or will he be able to find exactly what he wants because he sticks to his guns?

A prison supervisor who shops to relax must decide whether she should cut back on her shopping or change her $168K price point. Monica has just been transferred from Mississippi to Texas for work and is living out of a hotel. She's got all her shoes and handbags in storage and is anxious to find her first place with a large walk in closet, of course. She soon realizes she doesn't want her mortgage to be more than a thousand dollars a month, which drastically lowers her price point. When her realtor miraculously finds a home within her new price range that has nearly everthing on her long must-have list, a friend encouarges her to lowball the offer. Will she risk the perfect house by offering a price so low the seller walks away?

Kelly and Phabian have already made 8 offers in their search for a place for their family in Livermore, CA, but are still waiting for a ''yes.'' Just when they think their luck is changing, they get bad news about their dream house. The couple must face big decisions if they are to achieve their goal of home ownership.

Paul is a single dad who wants to buy a cool first place in Austin so that he can give his teenage son a permanent home. But will his variable incomelimit their search to the cheap properties? Or can they find the perfect place and still come in under-budget?

Young Baltimore attorneys Gabby and Zak have great earning potential in the future, but they don't have a lot of cash on hand as they buy their first place. This becomes a huge challenge when they ask the sellers for $30,000 in closing costs. When the sellers refuse, the couple must get extremely creative or lucky to save the deal.

Fresh out of the Air Force, Chris and Melissa are looking for a house where they can expand their family in Plano, Texas. His determination to get a good deal conflicts with her tendency to fall for every good-looking house they see. After battling each other for negotiation supremacy, bad luck befalls the couple not once, but twice, as deal breakers rear their ugly heads. Will the third time be the charm, or will their dream of homeownership get tabled?

Faced with only a few months before their wedding, LaKeasha and Jared race to find their first place in Baltimore. Already paying $1600 in rent to go month-to-month, they are eager to get out of their small apartment and settle in before the nuptials. When they find what they think is the perfect place, they overlook a potential deal breaker. Could their dream of homeownership get derailed before they even leave the station?

Courtney and her French husband, Benoit, are on deadline to buy their first place before their first baby arrives. After looking at several Pittsburgh homes and disagreeing completely on their style, the couple has some compromising to do. But will this expectant couple agree on a home before their bundle of joy arrives?

With their conflicting taste, it's hard to imagine Audra and Justin ever agreeing on a house. But when they finally find a home that meets all their must-haves, they impulsively leap before looking. Can they get out of this contract? And will they ever find a place they both love?

Aaron and his girlfriend, Ashley, will only buy a home in one specific neighborhood in Dallas called Lake Ridge Estates. The problem affordable homes in the area rarely come on the market and when they do are snatched up quickly. When they finally find a home in the neighborhood, someone puts an offer in before them and they lose the house. Their realtor takes them to another home in area and they immediately decide to put in an offer. Unfortunately at the same exact moment a competing offer comes in so the are now in a bidding war. Will they finally win this fight or will their search never end?

A couple living in downtown Baltimore, Maryland is tired of noise and no parking. With a baby on the way and their apartment lease nearly up, they're under pressure to find their first place quickly. But Dan would love to live way out in the country, while Griffin wants the convenience of suburbia. Complicating matters, their first place can't be too far of a commute for Dan who works in downtown Baltimore. Finally they agree on a suburban home that's been newly renovated, but there are three other buyers interested as well. Dan and Griffin have to figure out a negotiating strategy that will ensure they get the only home they can both agree on.